A headteacher today blamed bubbling 'community tensions' for a chaotic outbreak of violence that saw pupils fighting running battles across school grounds, leaving one staff member hospitalised and others injured.
Up to 20 police cars swarmed the school gates as the mass fight broke out at 1,000-pupil Fir Vale Academy in Sheffield at midday yesterday.
Several staff members and students were injured and South Yorkshire Police said a member of staff was sent to hospital with wounds that were not life-threatening.
In a letter sent to parents yesterday afternoon, the school described the incident as having stemmed from 'community tensions spilling over onto school grounds'.
The academy school is in the inner-city Burngreave district of Sheffield.
Police were called to Fir Vale Academy in Sheffield yesterday around midday following reports of a disturbance involving students which saw several staff members and students receive minor injuries
South Yorkshire Police say a member of staff was sent to hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing
Pupils were able to leave the premises safely at the end of the school day as there was no evidence of weapons being used.
One Facebook commenter said: 'Just picked my son up from this school and it was chaos.'
The new letter, published on the school's website and signed by principal Danny Bullock, reads: 'Dear Parents and Carers, You will be aware of a serious incident at school this morning which resulted in the police being called. Whilst taking place within school, the incident stemmed from recent community tensions.
'I would like to thank staff and the majority of students who were not involved for their calmness and responsibility during what was an unsettling event.
'We will be doing everything within our power to ensure that those responsible for the incident are dealt with effectively by the Police and the relevant authorities. We are clear that the school is not the appropriate forum for community tensions to be addressed and the school should be a place of respect, learning and stability.
'Behaviour of this nature will not be tolerated and the school will be taking swift, strong and decisive action around this.
'We are proud to serve a number of communities within the school but we will not allow tensions from outside to impact on the day to day running of the school.
'Please be assured that we are taking this incident extremely seriously and we will be working with those across the community to ensure it does not recur.
'The academy will be open as normal tomorrow and we look forward to welcoming students who represent the values of our academy.'
Sheffield Superintendent Paul Ferguson, from South Yorkshire Police, said: 'We understand this incident will have caused significant concern in the local community, especially for families who had children in school at the time.
'Our officers will remain in the area conducting intensive, high visibility patrols and enquiries throughout this evening and into the early hours of tomorrow [Friday] morning and we will continue to work closely with the school and key partners to ensure the school is a safe and welcoming environment.
'If you have any concerns or questions please do stop and talk to them, they are there to listen and help where they can.'
The previous Fir Vale School was opened in 1998 and formally opened in 2004 by Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The present converted Academy School was formed in 2012 and accepts approximately 1,000 pupils from the local area.
The latest incident follows a mass brawl breaking out at the secondary school in 2018, sparked by a canteen row when a girl's headscarf was ripped off by another pupil - with footage showing pupils grappling and throwing punches at each other.
A father who had two daughters at the school told the Daily Mail in 2018 the incident was 'between a Yemeni girl and a Eastern European girl and her headscarf was ripped off.'
The latest census in 2021 showed the Burngreave ward had 8,396 people identifying as Christian, 12,692 as Muslim, 271 as other religions and 4,261 with no religion.
